I am concerned that there seems to be very little effort from the government to hold anybody accountable for the debris field heading this way from Japan.
We all feel for the country of origin for there loss and devastation. However, this should be treated no different then a toxic spill.
The pollution aspect is just as bad as the BP oil spill. The effects on marine life, sea birds and water quality will be devastating for years to come.
Can anybody explain why nobody has picked up on this and started to insist that Japan should be responsible for cleaning this up?
If a ship sinks and it spills a toxic load into the sea the owners are held responsible and the insurance covers the cost of remedial action. Why is this different? We know where it came from.
Yes, we feel for all the people devastated by the earthquake and following tsunami. We also feel just as sorry for all the wild life dying at this moment because of the pollution from the debris floating unchecked in the Pacific Ocean.
If it was oil then you would be seeing a huge cleanup operation. Can some one explain why this is different?
The international community should step up and do something about this.
Maybe we are thinking it will just float by and miss North America. This debris field is equivalent to dumping all the industrial and household floating debris and garbage from the whole of B.C. into the ocean in one go.
The debris includes human remains, toxic waste industrial waste, tires, oil waste products … the list is endless.
We cannot ignore this threat and hope it goes away, it is immoral and naive.
Ted Whanstall, Qualicum Beach
